Islanders News

Morning Skate Updates: 11/12/15

MSG: Tonight’s game will be featured on MSG Network, as opposed to MSG+, the usual home of the Islanders. Channel Finder.

Halak in goal: Jaroslav Halak gets the start in goal Thursday night for the Islanders, while Jean-Francois Berube will back him up. Halak is 4-3-1 this season, but has given up two goals or fewer in five of his eight starts – including four of his last five.

Enroth Starts for Kings: Enroth Starts for Kings: Jhonas Enroth will start in goal for the Los Angeles Kings. Enroth is coming off a 24-save shutout over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 3, but as good as he’s been, he is still the preferred option to Jonathan Quick, who is 5-1-2 with a 1.59 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage against the Islanders.

Same Skaters: Jack Capuano is planning on going with the same lineup from Tuesday’s 4-2 win. He hinted at possible line changes, but the personnel should stay intact.

PROJECTED LINES:

BROCK NELSON

JOHN TAVARES

KYLE OKPOSO

ANDERS LEE

FRANS NIELSEN

JOSH BAILEY

NIKOLAY KULEMIN

MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI

STEVE BERNIER

MATT MARTIN

CASEY CIZIKAS

CAL CLUTTERBUCK

Splitting the D: Capuano broke up one of his most consistent defensive pairings Tuesday, splitting up Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk. Capuano said he wanted to mix things up, as the Islanders haven’t gotten the same offensive contributions from their back end as they did last season. Boychuk was paired with Calvin de Haan and scored for the second straight game, while Nick Leddy skated with Travis Hamonic.

Capuano on splitting Leddy/Boychuk, de Haan/Hamonic: “When you go through a drought like that, it’s good to switch it up. We did it on special teams as well and it sparks your team. I thought [de Haan] and [Hamonic] were playing well up until that point too. Again, you have a big strong guy with a puck-moving guy on each side of those pairings.”

PROJECTED D-PAIRS:

NICK LEDDY

TRAVIS HAMONIC

CALVIN DE HAAN

JOHNNY BOYCHUK

BRIAN STRAIT

MAREK ZIDLICKY

Brock Nelson on the Kings: “They have a lot of skilled forwards, a lot of good mobile defensemen that can play a two-way game. We’ll have our hands full and we just have to stick to our game plan, play hard and keep it simple.”

THROWBACK THURSDAY:

In honor of tonight's Islanders-Kings game, former Islander and King Butch Goring tells the story of "Hot News!" also known as a prank that led to a bus fire.